ARTICLES ABOUT NEGOTIATIONS BY DATE - PAGE 2

Service workers at Johns Hopkins Hospital will begin a new round of negotiations with the medical institution Tuesday, several days after a strike was averted when Gov. Martin O'Malley asked both sides to take a one-week cooling-off period. The 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East labor union, which represents 2,000 Hopkins workers, is at odds with the hospital mostly over the issue of pay raises. Hospital officials said people's schedules made it better to meet earlier than to take a reprieve.

Service workers at Johns Hopkins Hospital plan to begin a four-day strike at the hospital Friday after contract negotiations with the East Baltimore medical institution broke down. The 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East labor union, which represents 2,000 Hopkins workers, gave the hospital a strike notice last week in case an agreement was not met. The strike would be the second in two months for the union, which held a three-day walkout in April. The two sides, which began negotiations four months ago, reached a stalemate late Monday after a full day of bargaining.

The Washington Wizards are close to reaching an agreement with coach Randy Wittman that will allow him to build upon the franchise's surprising playoff run, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Yahoo Sports is reporting the deal will keep Wittman with the organization for the next three seasons. Nothing is imminent, but discussions have progressed, according to a person who was not at liberty to publicly discuss the negotiations. Wittman was confident that he would return after completing a season in which he led the Wizards to 44 wins, the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and the organization's first playoff series win since 2005.

The labor union representing service workers at The Johns Hopkins Hospital are planning a march and media blitz to criticize the hospital's labor practices after contract negotiations ordered by a federal mediator broke down late Wednesday. The workers, members of 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East labor union, plan to march in downtown Baltimore May 10. Next week, they will place commercials on Baltimore radio stations and advertisements in national newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

Hard on the news that Baltimore viewers are scheduled to be excluded from a TV debate May 7 among Maryland's Democratic candidates, WBFF (Fox45) said Wednesday that it has "been negotiating for months" with Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler and Del. Heather R. Mizeur for a debate in Baltimore. "We're still confident that details will be worked out," Mike Tomko, news director at the Sinclair-owned Fox affiliate in Baltimore, said Wednesday morning in the wake of dueling press releases among the candidates arguing over a Baltimore-staged debate.

The city liquor board has agreed to let the owner of Club Voltage keep his liquor license, reversing an earlier ruling, on the condition that he not open a bar at the same Southeast Baltimore location. The Board of Liquor License Commissioners said Thursday that owner Louis J. Principio III could keep the potentially lucrative license as long as he does not use it at the site of the huge dance club at the Baltimore Travel Plaza on O'Donnell Street. The board revoked the license in March after complaints about the club inside the old Greyhound bus terminal, including a Dec. 2 shooting on the dance floor.

Maryland men's basketball assistant Scott Spinelli is in "serious negotiations" to become an assistant under new Boston College coach Jim Christian, Terps coach Mark Turgeon said Monday. "Nothing's final yet," Turgeon said. Spinelli did not respond phone calls and text messages from The Baltimore Sun. Spinelli, who came with Turgeon from Texas A&M, grew up outside Boston and recruits heavily in New England. He was instrumental in the Terps landing Jake Layman out of high school and bringing in Evan Smotrycz when he transferred from Michigan.

John Hopkins Hospital and the union representing housekeepers, food servers and other workers were unable to agree on a contract Thursday night, leaving open the possibility for a strike beginning April. 9. Local union 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East is working on behalf of 2,000 hospital employees to push for wage increases. They say many of the workers are on food stamps Medicaid and other public assistance. A Hopkins spokeswoman reiterated Friday that hospital officials were working "to reach a settlement that's fair to everyone and reflects financial responsibility on the part of the hospital.

The board overseeing Maryland's health exchange voted unanimously Tuesday evening to scrap its dysfunctional website and adopt software developed by Deloitte Consulting and used by the more successful health exchange in Connecticut. The software is free for Maryland to use but Health Secretary Joshua M. Sharfstein will negotiate an emergency $40 million to $50 million contract with the software company to develop the site. Isabel FitzGerald, secretary of the state's Department of Information Technology, who stepped in to help fix the exchange, will oversee the project.